Alex Van Halen says dad gave him first drink at 6 years old; mom thought band’s music was ‘a disgrace’
Fox News
Alex Van Halen wrote about his childhood and growing up with Eddie Van Halen in his new memoir "Brothers," four years after the guitarist's death.
"I was young when I first realized that alcohol had that effect on me — that it lifted my spirits like nothing else."
"He didn’t give me a pacifier; to placate me he gave me a tobacco pipe," Alex wrote in the memoir, according to People. "I was young when I first realized that alcohol had that effect on me — that it lifted my spirits like nothing else. For people whose bodies react to alcohol the way mine does, it’s like you’ve gone back to the womb. Everything is warm and fuzzy, no matter where you happen to be."
He told The Guardian in an interview he and Eddie "were ‘pros’ [at drinking] by the time we were 13."